Design, build, and launch of UK's first mobile-first bank
The Situation
Situation: The parent company of a UK regional Bank wanted to divest the business, but had no growth story, a declining customer base, and seriously needed to modernise the business. They wanted to launch a new current account to attract a younger generation of customers.
The Task
Task: Design a whole new business that would appeal to a new customer segment (millennials and Gen Z) and enable a successful divestment.
The Action / Approach
Actions: Spoke with the target segment to demonstrate why a new current account wasn’t the answer to the customer or business problem. Highlighted the needs of the segment (anxiety, worry, being talked down to, made to feel not good enough, and 70% would rather go to the dentist than engage with their bank). Ran the ideation section and settled on the premise if the bank didn’t exist on the phone it didn’t exist at all, so what if you could ‘Download your bank’. Designed, prototyped, tested, learned, and kept iterating until it was right. Created the feature sets, features, user stories, and worked with designers and developers to build the MVP of a bank that didn’t talk like a bank, act like a bank, or think like a bank. The UK’s first mobile first bank. Created a separate venture.
The Result
Results: Launched the UK’s first mobile first bank. Increased net new customers by 300,000+. Successful divestment. Acquired another established financial services company in the UK with an excellent consumer brand.
